Flavored artificial sweetener

ABSTRACT

A flavored artificial sweetener is made of a carrier, such as dextrose and the like, that is milled together with a flavoring agent. The mixture is then commingled with a second bulking agent, such as maltodextrin and a sweet agent, such as aspartame. The resulting sweetener has excellent taste characteristics and flowability. It can be packaged in small envelopes, canisters or bulk containers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/791,119 filedMar. 1, 2004.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a novel composition for an artificialsweetener. More particularly, this application pertains to an artificialsweetener having that includes one or more flavoring ingredients.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

People have a craving for sweet foods and drinks, however, naturalsweeteners, such as sugar, have a high caloric content and therefore areconducive to weight gain. Moreover, people with certain medicalconditions, such as various forms of diabetes, must severely limit theirsugar intake.

In order to overcome these problems, researchers have been looking forcompositions a very low or no caloric content, are sweet but otherwisehave a neutral taste and can be readily used in food stuff. One of theearliest such sweeteners that is still in use is saccharin. Though it iswidely used to sweeten many foods and beverages, saccharin has anaftertaste that is objectionable to some people.

Another popular artificial sweetener is aspartyl-phenylalanine methylester (“aspartame”). Aspartame has a sweet taste with only minimalbitterness for most people. Its onset of sweetness is only slightlyslower than sucrose (the key ingredient of sugar).

Various artificial sweeteners are disclosed in, U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,730to Pepper et al. (composition including xylitol and a reduced caloriebulking agent); U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,443 to Roy et al. (amides ofaspartic acid and certain amides characterized by the presence of athietanyl substituent); U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,989 to Barnett etal.(dipepetides of certain aminodicarboxylic acid esters); U.S. Pat. No.4,254,154 to Eisenstadt (composition including dipeptide sweetener plusa sugar or sugar alcohol, a glycyrrhizin and cream of tartar); and U.S.Pat. No. 4,004,039 to Shoaf et al. (aspartame dispersed throughout amatrix). These patents, incorporated herein by reference, generallyattempt to provide or synthesize sweeteners having the taste of thenatural sweetness of ordinary sugar. However, none of these approacheswere completely successful.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a novel combination of a carrier, a bulkingagent, a sweet agent and a flavor agent. In the preferred embodiment,the carrier is dextrose, the bulking agent is maltodextrin and the sweetagent is aspartame. The flavor agent may be a food grade flavorcomposition. Preferably, the flavor agent is added first to the carrierto form a mixture and the other agents are then commingled with themixture to form the final product.

The artificial sweetener thus obtain has excellent taste andflowability. Moreover, when used in various foodstuff, the product doesnot discolor or clump.

Advantageously, the product can be provided in many different packagingstyles, such as one-gram envelopes or canisters for restaurant orprivate use, or in bulk for industrial and commercial food applications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Preferably, a flavored artificial sweetener prepared in accordance withthis invention contains at least a carrier and/or a bulking agent, asweet agent and a flavoring agent.

It was found that the following process resulted in a particularlyadvantageous artificial sweetener using dextrose, maltodextrin,aspartame and a flavoring agent as ingredients. First, the dextrose andflavoring agent are milled together. It is preferred to use anagglomerated dextrose such as Unidex™ available from Corn ProductsInternational of Bedford Park, Ill., which maintains the flavoring agentin a suitably dispersed condition within the blend. The Unidex™ productis available as porous spherical particles which exhibit good freeflowing, and low dusting characteristics and are highly compressible.The preferred form of flavoring is in the form of an encapsulated spraydried powder such as Flavolope™, manufactured and distributed by Ungerer& Co. of New Jersey. Suitable flavors incorporated into the flavoringagent include natural and artificial flavors such as cinnamon, peach,lemon, French vanilla, hazelnut, and mocha. Other flavors, as well ascombinations of flavors, can also be utilized as flavoring agents in thepresent invention.

Once the flavoring is milled with the agglomerated dextrose,maltodextrin and aspartame are dry blended with the mixture. Themaltodextrin used should be in agglomerated form because it has bettermixing characteristics. The composition is then milled so that it ispassable through a 30 mesh screen. The composition is dry packaged intosuitable packing configuration. The composition may have the followingingredients:

-   -   Dextrose 60%-90%    -   Maltodextrin 0-5%    -   Aspartame 3-8%    -   Flavoring 1%-31%.

Preferably, the artificial sweetener has the following composition:

-   -   Dextrose 60%    -   Maltodextrin 5%    -   Aspartame 4%    -   Flavoring 31%.

In this formulation, the dextrose acts as a carrier and a bulking agent.Dextrose is particularly suitable because it is sweet, providesflowability, and has no caloric value (i.e., is non-nutritive). Thedextrose is also preferred because it binds well with the flavoringagent due to holes in its molecular structure that readily accept theflavoring agent and provides a better mouth feel. Of course, otheringredient(s) may be used instead of dextrose, such as fiberpolydextrose, or gum Arabic or other similar ingredient that aresubstantially non-nutritive.

The maltodextrin is also sweet, although it is less sweet than dextrose,and is also used as a bulking agent. It may be omitted, or may bereplaced with another bulking agent, such as polydextrose, gum Arabic oranother low- or non-nutritive ingredient. The flavoring agent can beadded to this ingredient instead of, or in addition to the dextrose.

The aspartame is the sweet agent. The flavoring agent may be commingledwith the sweet agent instead of the carrier or bulking agent, howeversince there is less of this agent than the other ingredients, it may notbe too practical to use it as the carrier for the flavoring agent aswell. Other sweet ingredients that may be used include sucralose,acesulfame-K or saccharine.

Additional ingredients may also be added as required. For example, itmay be desirable to add a drying agent such as silicon dioxide,tricalcium phosphate, etc.

The resulting artificial sweetener is desirable because it has sweetnesscharacteristics similar to sugar, it pourable and spoonable and issuitable for various types of packaging such as one-gram paperenvelopes, shaker canisters, and bulk containers. Moreover, theflavoring agent provides additional tastes characteristics that renderthe sweetener suitable for various products without the need to addadditional flavors.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification. Thus, the appended claims are intended to coverall such features and advantages of the invention which fall within thetrue spirits and scope of the invention. Further, since numerousmodifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in theart, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact constructionand operation illustrated and described. Accordingly, all appropriatemodifications and equivalents may be included within the scope of theinvention.

Although this invention has been illustrated by reference to specificembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made which clearly fall withinthe scope of the invention. The invention is intended to be protectedbroadly within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. An artificial sweetener comprising: (a) a carrier made of asubstantially non-nutritive ingredient; (b) a flavoring agent; and (c) anon-nutritive sweet agent.
 2. The artificial sweetener of claim 1wherein said flavoring agent is agglomerated with said carrier.
 3. Theartificial sweetener of claim 1 further comprising a bulking agent. 4.The artificial sweetener of claim 1 wherein said carrier is a bulkingagent.
 5. The artificial sweetener of claim 1 wherein said carrier isdextrose.
 6. The artificial sweetener of claim 1 wherein said sweetagent is aspartame.
 7. An artificial sweetener comprising: (a) acarrier; (b) a bulking agent; (c) a sweet agent; and (d) a flavoringagent.
 8. The artificial sweetener according to claim 7 wherein saidcarrier is an agglomerated dextrose.
 9. The artificial sweeteneraccording to claim 7 wherein the flavoring agent is encapsulated. 10-26.(canceled)